<p>The tin can in the figure above is a cylinder that is 8 inches high and has a base of radius 3 inches. Of 5 pencils with lengths 6 inches, 8.5 inches 9 inches, 10.5 inches 12 inches, how many CANNOT fit entirely inside the can?
(A)one
(B)two
(C)three
(D)four
(E)five</p>
<p>what do they mean in 'fit entirely inside the can'? Do they mean its height or its volume or...
im stumped.</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone who replies</p>
<p>I believe what they mean is how many pencils cannot fit inside the can in terms of height. A pencil can fit entirely inside the can if, when placed in the can, you cannot see the tip of the pencil from outside.</p>
<p>For example, the pencil with length 6 inche can obviously fit inside the can, no matter how it is put in. The pencils of 8.5 and 9 inches can also fit inside when placed in a slanted manner.</p>
<p>I hope this helps ><</p>
<p>ok so it is giving you 5 pencils. The first pencil is is 6 inches high so it can surely fit in the can because the height is 8 inches high. To maximize the area a pencil can cover is if you put it in diagonally inside of the can. So do the Pythagorean Thoerem. But ince the radius is 3 the diameter is 6. so it is 6^2 plus 8^2 = x^2. x = 10. Therefore anything with a height of 10 inches or less can fit in diagonally inside of the cylinder. Therefore 2 of the pencils can not fit.</p>
<p>so they wanted the diagonal. that makes sense now.
Because when I thought it was asking about the height and whether it will fit or not…</p>